Costco opens first location in Brantford

Costco Wholesale opened its first location in Brantford on Friday.

The new location is at 175 Roy Boulevard, off Wayne Gretzky Parkway, next to Lynden Park Mall.

It becomes the 41st location in Ontario. General manager, Justin Peckitt told CTV News the store has brought more than 300 permanent jobs and 80 seasonal positions to Brantford.

“We’ve been excited about this and I feel like Brantford is excited to have us,” Peckitt said.

The warehouse features Costco’s first sushi department in the province.

The 159,098 square-foot superstore offers an independent optometrist on-site, a hearing aid centre, five tire centre bays, a gas station with 24 pumps and a pharmacy.

The store opened its doors to customers around 6:30 a.m., with shoppers lining up more than an hour in advance.

‘We’ve been here since [6:05 a.m.] and it was packed,” said Deanna Finch-Smith.

Cecil Barrett drove all the way from Toronto and waited in line for 45 minutes before purchasing two 55-inch TVs and 24 rolls of paper towel.

“They always have great stuff,” Barrett said. “Obviously it’s a member-based system. They have fuel stations and stuff like that. You get great deals.”

Brantford mayor, Kevin Davis, said the Costco will help spark further economic activity in the community.

“We’re going to have shoppers coming to Brantford from parts of Oxford, Woodstock, down to Norfolk, Haldimand,” Davis told CTV. “When people come into Brantford, they’re not going to shop at Costco. They’ll be doing other things, visiting restaurants, maybe visiting some of the tourism highlights that we have.”

Costco is open to members only, with nearly nine million members in Canada.

Memberships start at $65 per year.